Tonight is the occasion of the second réveillon, the first taking place on Christmas Eve. The name comes from the verb meaning ‘waking’ (or staying awake!) because the réveillon is a meal which starts very late and goes on until 4 am, often with ten or more courses. At Christmas the meal is shared with family, whereas on New Year’s Eve it is celebrated with friends.
Everytime I have switched on the TV lately there has been a short programme showing us yet another way to serve foie gras. And endless reports about the harvesting of oysters and mussels, or buying lobsters at the fish market. Shellfish is a must for réveillon, as is champagne, although in Burgundy of course we drink crémant which I much prefer.
Mistletoe on our gate
We’ve been out this afternoon to get some mistletoe from the woods. We learned last year that mistletoe is not to be used at Christmas, only at New Year. At the stroke of midnight you kiss your loved ones under the mistletoe to ensure prosperity and good fortune for the year ahead. Another thing that I have found different in France is that you do not wish people a Happy New Year before New Year’s Day. Oooops!
Cards don’t seem to be much in evidence. They may be sent to family who you will not see at Christmas, but not to friends and neighbours who you see often. Cards are more for New Year and are not so prolific as in the UK. At a couple of euros each I am not surprised!
Thankfully we are a million miles from Paris where it seems there is a competition every New Year’s Eve to see which gang can burn the most cars in each district. Apparently last year the official figure was 1137 cars. M. Sarkozy is going to keep quiet about the extent of this year’s mayhem so as to discourage people by not giving them some record to break next year.
No French réveillon for us though. We are going to have roast pork and crémant, then wander down to Cluny to see if anything’s going on. We have booked to go riding tomorrow so we have to be in a fit state!
